Shoe-cleaner.



G. K; HAW & J. K. SOUTHEE.

SHOE CLEANER.

APPLIUATION FILED MAY 13,1909.

Patented Nov. 29, 1910.

m Y A k w x MN l J avg/[wad gy JfiJmlilac e um TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES K. HAW AND JAMES K. SOUTHEE, OF KANSAS CITY, KANSAS.

SHOE-CLEANER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHARLES K. HAW and JAMES K. SoU'rHnn, citizens of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of l/Vyandotte and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe-Cleaners, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to shoe cleaners and more especially to a device whereby dirt may be simultaneously scraped from the bottom and brushed from the edges of the sole and heel and the lower part of the vamp of a shoe, our object being to produce an eflicient and reliable device of this character which can be easily secured in operative position and embodies the desirable features of simplicity, strength, durability and cheapness of construction.

To this end the invention consists in certain novel and peculiar features of construction and organization as hereinafter described and claimed; and in order that it may be fully understood reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing, in which;

Figure 1, is a top plan view of a shoe cleaner embodying our invention. Fig. 2, is a vertical section on the line IIII of Fig. 1. Fig. 3, is a side elevation. Fig. 4, is a section on the line IVIV of Fig. 2. Fig. 5, is a horizontal section on the line VV of Fig. 2.

In the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates a casting provided at each end with a leg 2 having an inturned base 3, each base being provided with notches 4, (as shown in Fig. 5) through which notches suitable securing devices, such as screws, are passed to fasten the casting firmly to the floor of a porch or other support. The casting is provided centrally with a longitudinally, upwardlyprojecting and tapering rib or scraper 5, and each leg of the casting is provided with an aperture 6, upon opposite sides of which outwardly project arms 7. The lower portion of each leg is provided with an out wardly projecting hinge-lug 8, and hinged to each lug 8 is an arm 9, said arm being provided at its lower end with hingelugs 10, 10, which engage the opposite sides of the lug 8, said lugs being secured together, in their alined position, by pins or pintles 11 passing through them.

Arms 9 are also provided with inwardlybowed portions 12 to which are attached the opposite ends of a strong coil spring 13 Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 13, 1909.

Serial No. 495,824.

fitting in the hollow side of the casting, which thus forms a housing to protect the spring from the dirt which drops at opposite sides of the casting when dislodged from a shoe by the scraper 5.

The arms 9 bend inwardly at 14 over the adjacent ends of the casting and terminate in vertically-disposed and laterally-widened ends 15 through which screws 16 extend to secure thereto a pair of brushes 17, said brushes being disposed above the casting and at opposite ends of its upwardly-projecting scraper-rib. The bristles of the brushes approach to within a distance considerably less than the width of a shoe and their adjacent faces are oppositely curved so as to leave an intervening space which flares both ways from its center to form mouths to facilitate the slippage of a shoe between the brushes.

Assuming that a person wishes to scrape mud or dirt from the sole and lower part of the side of his shoe, he slips his foot between the brushes at one end or the other of the samepreferably placing his heel betweenv the more remote ends of the brushes so that the scraper shall scrape the mud or dirt from the bottom of the heel, instep and sole, the brushes at the same time brushing the mud and dirt from the edges of the sole and heel and also from the lower part of the vamp, it being obvious that by the proper manipulation of his foot, that is, by turning it to one side or the other, he can brush the rear part of his heel and the front of the toe of the shoe. The drawing of the shoe through the space between the brushes will overcome the pressure of the latter and swing them apart and thus cause them to accommodate shoes of different widths.

From the above description it will be apparent that we have produced a shoe cleaner embodying the desirable features enumerated in the statement of the object of the invention, and we wish it to be understood that we reserve the right to make such changes in the form, proportion, detail construction and arrangement of the parts as properly fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. A shoe-cleaner, comprising a metallic housing formed with an upwardly project- Patented Nov. 29, 1910.

ing scraper-rib and with supporting-legs, all cast in one piece, an arm hinged to each supporting-leg, bent inwardly over the adj acent end of the housing and terminating in a vertically-disposed brush-carrying end, and means for holding both arms in yielding position.

2. A shoe-cleaner, comprising a metallic housing formed with an upwardly projecting scraper-rib and with supporting-legs, all cast in one piece, an arm hinged to each leg, said arm being bent over the adjacent end of the housing and terminating in a vertically disposed and laterally extended end, a brush carried by each arm, and a coil 15 spring arranged within the housing and yieldingly connecting the two arms together.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures, in the presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES K. HAWV. JAMES K. SOUTHEE. Vitnesses M. A. ODONNELL, G. Y. THORPE. 

